President’s Lack of Leadership Comes To a Head With Indecisiveness In Libya

President Obama has said little for the more than a month since the Libyan rebels began their effort to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi’s brutal regime; choosing instead to sit down with ESPN and discuss his NCAA bracket, attend the Gridiron Club dinner, and make statements against bullying in schools and Women’s History Month.

He even participated in his 61st round of golf as president the day after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake devastated Japan unleashing a destructive tsunami and putting multiple nuclear power plants at risk for meltdowns, and waiting days to address the disaster.

Perhaps this hesitation is to ensure what the Wall Street Journal called, “political safety” on Thursday. Making swift and accurate decisions about what is best for America and the Middle East isn’t Obama’s priority. His reputation is.

Finally, last Friday we went to war with Libya after Qaddafi wouldn’t comply with UN requests. At last we made our move, but we weren’t the first to strike. The French were. After our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy who urged her to have the United States take action immediately, Clinton’s only response was, “[t]here are difficulties.”

This evasive and ambiguous position with Qaddafi left European Governments “completely puzzled.” One European diplomat who talked with The Cable said, “We are wondering if this is a priority for the United States.” It seems as though the administration is not looking for victory but was rather coerced by other nations to follow their lead. On Fox News Sunday this past weekend, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stated, “…we’re taking a back seat rather than a leadership role” which makes America look weak in the eyes of other nations.

UPDATE:

Now that we have participated in the “no fly zone” we have no clear mission, goals or end in sight. It seems as though no one in the administration knows why we are there, what to do now that we are there or how to get out.